We are all choking on plastic pollution – it's time for the UK to act

A landmark study revealed earlier this week that billions of people globally are drinking water contaminated by plastic particles. Almost 95 per cent of tap water samples tested in the US contained traces of plastic.

Drinking water in the UK didn’t fare much better, with almost three-quarters of European drinking water tainted by the spectre of plastic pollution. We can’t go on like this. Whitehall needs to wake up and end the plastic crisis.

It’s not hard to see why plastic has become such a menace to our water supply. Plastic debris fills our oceans, rivers, and reservoirs. Last year I swam in the Indian Ocean while filming a documentary about the curse of ocean plastic.

Rivers carry an estimated 1.15-2.41 million tonnes of plastic into the sea every year

Just moments after diving in I discovered the true horrors of what was lying beneath the seemingly pristine surface. I was swimming in a toxic soup of plastic debris. Trying desperately to avoid swallowing any of the polluted water, I was surrounded by a hideous mix of polyethylene bottles, carrier bags, and plastic wrapping.

Plastic doesn’t discriminate. It taints all marine environments regardless of where they are in the world. The pollution crisis is particularly bad in the Pacific Ocean, where plastic has become a mainstay of the marine environment. First discovered around 30 years ago, the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is a hideous smog of plastic debris which covers an area bigger than India.

Ben Folge swimming through plastic off Sri Lanka in 2011

Our rivers are also brimming with plastic, further putting at risk the water we drink. Researchers at The Ocean Cleanup – a Dutch foundation developing new technologies for ridding the oceans of plastic – say rivers carry an estimated 1.15-2.41 million tonnes of plastic into the sea every year, an amount that needs between 48,000 to over 100,000 dump trucks to carry it away.

Industry is often quick to play down the effects of plastic pollution on health, but this seriously complacent attitude is putting us all at risk. Despite a whole host of studies raising grave concerns about the chronic health problems that plastic has been linked to, both government and industry is failing to do anything about it.

The scale of the plastic health crisis is truly alarming. As well as contaminating water supplies, it’s clear that plastic is tainting the food we eat. A 2016 study by the University of Ghent revealed that Britons who eat seafood risk ingesting up to 11,000 pies of plastic every year. Fish stocks are now so full of plastic that up to one-third of the fish caught off the coast of South West England is thought to contain traces of it.

It’s now getting so bad that the UN is being forced to step in. A ground-breaking UN Environment Project Report warned last year that people who consumer plastic-contaminated fish could be exposed to substances that cause genetic disruption, infertility, and even poisoning. With more and more plastic finding its way into oceans, rivers, and reservoirs every day, the plastic health crisis is only set to get worse in the decades ahead.

Environment Secretary Michael Gove is desperately searching for a way of making his mark in his new Cabinet brief. Introducing the UK’s first plastic-free strategy would be a start.

Instead of the piecemeal approach which has seen half-hearted anti-plastic measures implemented at sporadic intervals, Whitehall needs to formulate a long-term coherent plan outlining how it plans to drive down the amount of plastic being dumped in the environment.

While the Government must do more on plastic, that’s not to say that UK plc doesn’t have major room for improvement. Earlier this year, I joined forces with campaign group A Plastic Planet to call for a plastic-free aisle in supermarkets. A plastic-free aisle would be a great way of giving consumers real choice over what they buy. Given that shoppers are increasingly hunting for purchases that don’t cost the earth, a plastic-free aisle would allow supermarkets to attract a growing band of eco-savvy consumers.

The plastic health crisis should be of grave concern to anyone who cares about securing a great future for generations to come. Strong action from both the Government and British business is a no-brainer if we are to call time on the lunacy of plastic pollution.

Ben Fogle is backing campaign group A Plastic Planet’s calls for a Plastic Free Aisle in supermarkets. To find out more please visit aplasticplanet.com